Sales outperforming projections? December doesn’t have to mean settling for whatever inventory is left over. Smart programmatic CTV buyers know that the final weeks of the year offer unique opportunities to reach highly engaged audiences, if you know where to invest and how to optimize. Here’s how to make every dollar of that windfall budget count.

1. Make the most of emotional connection

Seasonal content isn’t just more popular, it’s more engaging. Viewers lean into familiar titles that spark nostalgia and tradition, driving longer watch times and higher completion rates for advertisers. Last year, between November 1 and December 10, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation reached 9.4 million U.S. households, Elf drew 8.7 million, and Home Alone reached 4.1 million, according to Samba TV. Classics made up nine of the top fifteen holiday films, showing that audiences gravitate toward comfort viewing year after year.

For programmatic buyers, this means the best use of incremental budget isn’t necessarily to chase new releases, it’s to invest in environments where attention runs high and audiences stay tuned in. Run ads alongside proven, high-engagement titles, and optimize toward completion and attention metrics instead of impressions alone.

2. Don’t overlook the Boomer advantage

While many media plans default to younger demos, the data reveals that older audiences are disproportionately engaged with holiday content. Samba TV found that Boomers are the most enthusiastic holiday content consumers by far: households aged 55-64 over-indexed on 38 of 56 surveyed holiday movies, and those aged 65-74 on 36. In contrast, Gen Z households (20-24) over-indexed on only 15, and Millennials (35-44) on just 13.

This represents a significant opportunity for smart buyers deploying budget in December. Add 55+ targeting to your holiday campaigns. This demographic is heavily engaged with seasonal programming and often has higher household income and purchasing power. If your brand doesn’t typically target older demos, this is the moment to test it while audiences are most receptive.

3. Expand your daypart strategy

During the holidays, streaming “prime time” starts earlier and lasts longer. Viewers are home from work, kids are on break, and families tune in together. It’s no surprise, then, that Frndly TV reported an 8.4% increase in active users during December, with most tuning in between 4 p.m. and midnight EST. 

Programmatic buyers can capitalize by adjusting pacing and daypart strategies. Shift some budget earlier in the day to catch co-viewing audiences before competition peaks, and extend buys through late evening hours to capture incremental impressions as families rewatch or binge holiday content. The result: more attentive viewers, higher completion rates, and better cost efficiency across your campaign.

4. Know exactly where you’re running

Not all CTV impressions are created equal. Some campaigns labeled as “CTV” end up serving on gaming apps, user-generated video, or background streams like fireplace apps. There’s a big difference between a family sitting down to watch Die Hard (a Christmas movie, and you can’t convince us otherwise) together versus a looped fireplace app running in the background at a holiday party. Both might register as “CTV impressions,” but only one delivers real attention. 

That’s why we introduced TV by OpenX, accessed through OpenXSelect, our curation platform built for premium, transparent supply. As part of this initiative, we removed all resellers and properly classified non-TV content — including gaming, fireplace apps, UGC, OTT, and mobile — on our platform. This guarantees that every impression is true TV content, giving buyers clear measurement and more working media.

5. Choose partners with direct publisher relationships

In a crowded Q4 market, transparency and inventory integrity are critical to ensuring that every dollar performs. Buying through 100% direct, properly classified CTV inventory gives advertisers full visibility into where ads run and confidence that impressions are real.

Through OpenXSelect, advertisers can tap into 200K+ direct premium publisher integrations, reaching 231 million monthly users across 84 million glass-on-wall devices. The result: cleaner supply paths, reduced waste, and higher performance. OpenX’s direct relationships with premium publishers also eliminate unnecessary hops in the supply chain, ensuring more of each dollar goes to working media.

Give your CTV strategy the gift of transparency

Holiday viewership is peaking right now, and audiences are spending more time than ever watching premium content together. For buyers with late-season budget flexibility, there’s still time to make every CTV dollar count — by focusing on attention, reaching the demographics that are truly watching, and ensuring your ads run on verified, direct, and properly classified inventory. That’s how programmatic efficiency turns into real, measurable holiday impact. Contact us today to get started.